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Rangers win another squeaker, go to East finals with 2-1 win over Caps in Game 7

CORRECTS TO THIRD PERIOD NOT SECOND PERIOD - Washington Capitals goalie Braden Holtby (70) and New York Rangers\' Marian Gaborik (10) react after a goal by Rangers\' Michael Del Zotto during the third period of Game 7 of a second-round NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series on Saturday, May 12, 2012, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
Author: The Hockey News

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Rangers win another squeaker, go to East finals with 2-1 win over Caps in Game 7

NEW YORK, N.Y. - Henrik Lundqvist went from shaking his head in disgust to raising his arms in celebration when time finally ran out on the Washington Capitals.

Such is life as a New York Ranger these days.

Lundqvist was perfect in yet another nail-biting game that was razor close throughout the tension-filled, seven-game series, until the Capitals cut the Rangers' brief two-goal lead to one in the third period of Game 7. But Washington couldn't muster much else, and New York held on for a 2-1 victory on Saturday night that sent the top-seeded Rangers into the Eastern Conference finals against the No. 6 New Jersey Devils.

"We didn't expect the first blowout," said Rangers forward Brad Richards, who staked his team to a 1-0 lead just 1:32 in. "We expected another tight game. It came down to that again. It's just the way this series has gone, and it didn't change."

Michael Del Zotto also scored for the Rangers, who enjoyed the two-goal lead for all of 38 seconds before Capitals defenceman Roman Hamrlik made it 2-1 with 9:17 remaining.

Coming into Game 7, these teams were tied or within one goal of each other for 90 per cent of the time, and the finale provided much of the same.

Lundqvist finished with 22 saves for the Rangers, who improved to 5-0 in Game 7s at Madison Square Garden. Now they will face the Atlantic Division-rival Devils in a rematch of the 1994 East finals, won dramatically by New York on Stephane Matteau's double-overtime goal in Game 7. That propelled the Rangers toward their first Cup title in 54 years.

It was that series that truly put this regional rivalry on an international stage. With stars on both sides, the Rangers and Devils, separated by just six miles and the Hudson River, played 27 periods of dramatic, tense hockey that ultimately resulted in each team winning a Stanley Cup over the next 13 months.

The Rangers have beaten the Devils in four of their five previous playoff meetings.

This next installment will open Monday in New York. The Devils have been off since eliminating the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 5 on Tuesday.

"It feels good to get that win," Rangers forward Marian Gaborik said. "You have to enjoy it for a little bit, but Monday we start from scratch again. We need to feel good about ourselves and get ready for the next series."

New York and Washington alternated wins and losses from Game 1 on, and this one didn't come easy for the Rangers, who missed a chance to eliminate the Capitals in Game 6 on the road.

It was yet another heartbreaker for Washington, which was trying to reach the conference finals for the third time. Six of the Capitals' seven playoff losses were by one goal, and only one of their 14 games overall were decided by more than one.

As they came off the ice following the final buzzer, the Capitals could be seen and heard smashing their sticks against the wall as they headed down the hallway to their dressing room.

"It's disappointing," said Braden Holtby, who made 29 saves. "We really did believe in here that we had the team to do it all. We gave ourselves a great chance. It's a tough loss. What we can take out of it is that New York is a very good team. We didn't leave anything on the table."

Before the cheering subsided following Del Zotto's goal, Hamrlik sent a shot off New York forward Derek Stepan that fluttered past Lundqvist for his only blemish of the night and left him shaking his head.

Suddenly, the jubilant crowd was thrown back into a state of nervousness, even though the score board pleaded all night for the fans to "Believe."

"Anytime you experience a surge like this, the momentum can turn. But we didn't let it happen," Del Zotto said. "We weren't happy about some of our play in the middle period but we found a way to keep them at bay."

The shots were 12-11 in favour of the Rangers in the scoreless second period, and New York took over in the third with an 11-4 edge.

Both the Rangers and the Capitals reached the second round of this year's playoffs with Game 7 wins. New York knocked out Ottawa, and seventh-seeded Washington eliminated the defending Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins.

History isn't all on the Rangers' side. Since playoff expansion, no club has played 14 games in the first two rounds and went on to capture the Cup. They did reverse a recent trend in which Washington eliminated them from the playoffs in two of the previous three years, including the Capitals' comeback from a 3-1 series deficit in the first round in 2009.

New York played a very disciplined game, taking only one penalty for delay of game against Ruslan Fedotenko in the third period. The Rangers' power play did nothing on its two chances, but keeping Washington's man-advantage unit off the ice helped secure this win.

The Capitals tried to pull Holtby for an extra skater with 1:22 left in the game, but he had to scramble back to cover the vacated net before he ever got to the bench.

He finally got off the ice, and the Capitals pressured in the Rangers' end. The puck was stuck in the corner when the final seconds ran out, and Lundqvist thrust both arms in the air as streamers poured down from the ceiling.

Matching the Capitals' quick start in Game 6, the Rangers jumped out quickly and took a 1-0 lead when Richards scored on New York's first shot.

Carl Hagelin used his speed to chase down a dump-in in the lower right corner of the Capitals' zone and curled behind the net with the puck on his backhand. As he came out the other side, Hagelin feathered a pass up to Richards, who one-timed a shot that beat Holtby inside the right post while Gaborik was in front of the net.

It was Richards' team-leading fourth goal of the series and sixth of the playoffs.

"It's a big goal. It gets the nerves out," Richards said. "You don't exhale, but you have the 1-0 lead. You got the crowd in it. They're not waiting for something to happen.

"They did it to us in Game 6 when they got an early goal. We did that tonight."

Although Washington controlled the puck for large chunks of the game, the Capitals yet again couldn't overcome the dreaded 1-0 deficit. The team that scored first won all seven games in the series. The numbers were even more stark for the Capitals, who went 0-6 in the playoffs after allowing the first goal and 7-1 when they grabbed the first lead.

Del Zotto started and finished the Rangers' second scoring play. He levelled Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin in the New York and moved the puck up ice. He eventually took a pass from Gaborik and snapped a shot past Holtby.

However, before the cheers subsided, the Capitals got back within a goal on Hamrlik's first of the playoffs.

This one was tight throughout.

Washington was outshot 12-11 in the second period, that featured a blank score sheet with no goals and no penalties. Midway through the frame, the Capitals kept the pressure on the Rangers with Ovechkin's line on the ice and camped out in the New York end for about two minutes.

As the tired Rangers chased Washington all around their zone and unable to change any players, the Capitals moved the puck side to side and up and down, seemingly keeping Lundqvist on a swivel. Many of their shots were offline, but the Capitals produced several prime chances that Lundqvist turned away—each one drawing sighs, but appreciative cheers from the towel-waving crowd.

"We came up short. We played a good team and a great goalie," Capitals forward Nicklas Backstrom said. "The Rangers played the way we played last game. They got a lead at the beginning and they controlled the game. We had some good puck possession in the second period but we couldn't get any real opportunities."

Mike Knuble had a good whack at the puck at the left post, but Lundqvist was there with his pad to keep it out.

Holtby, who became a father on Thursday, shook off Richards' early strike and seemed to gain confidence as the game wore on and the pressure built at the other end of the ice.

Notes: Richards, who improved to 4-0 in Game 7s, has recorded a goal and three assists in those games. He has seven goals and eight assists in the last 11 games in which his team has faced elimination. ... Hagelin, who had two assists, had his first points in 10 games, dating to an assist in New York's playoff opener against Ottawa. ... Injured Capitals forward Jay Beagle missed his second straight game, and Jeff Halpern took his place again. ... Fedotenko improved to 6-0 in Game 7.

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Philip Larsen got knocked unconscious, the Canucks retailiated without knowing what happened, and they could have hurt their teammate even worse in the process.

The incident was horrific. We can all agree on that.

Tuesday night in New Jersey, Vancouver Canucks blueliner Philip Larsen skated behind his net to retrieve a puck. He had no idea Devils left winger Taylor Hall was pursuing the same puck. They collided heavily. Larsen bashed his head on the ice and was knocked out cold.

It was a scary scene, undoubtedly, one that understandably evoked a ton of emotion from Larsen's teammates. It was hardly a surprise to see a flurry of Vancouver players swarm Hall and make him fight.

It was a shame, however, for multiple reasons. First off, the hit wasn't dirty. It wasn't even a deliberate bodycheck. Hall leaned back on his skates to slow his momentum and held out his arms as if protecting himself from imminent impact. It was more of a crash than a bonecrushing hit. We can debate whether Larsen's head was the principal point of contact – I don't believe it was at all – but it's irrelevant when assessing Hall's guilt. There was no intent there. He won't be disciplined by the NHL for an accident.

And yet, thanks to the sport's culture of immediate and forceful vengeance, Hall had to fight anyway. In the spur of the moment, in the heat of elite competition, players are simply too jacked up to take a breath and assess the situation. They see a comrade fall and, in mere milliseconds, seek and destroy whoever caused the harm.

“You always have a problem with a hit when one of your guys gets hit hard," Canucks coach Willie Desjardins told the Vancouver Province's Jason Botchford after the the game. "It doesn’t matter if it’s a clean hit. You have a problem when a guy gets hit that hard. I think all coaches would.”

The ironic thing about this tough-guy mentality is that it could end up pushing one of the toughest things about hockey out of the game: good, clean hits. If the swarm mentality goes on much longer, the only guys willing to lay opponents out with big hits will be those ready and willing to drop the gloves right afterward. Sooner or later players might decide it's not worth sitting five minutes and/or risking injury just to put a lick on a guy. And, in Hall's case, he wasn't even trying to drill Larsen.

Will we ever stop seeing players attacked after clean hits? I doubt it. The revenge assault is a crime of passion, a snap decision. But maybe, just maybe, the Canucks and players all over the world can learn a bit from what happened right after Larsen got hit. Watch:

The first instinct, sadly, is not to help Larsen, but to destroy Hall. Center Michael Chaput immediately starts a fight. That causes a pileup of players from both teams – all around the unconscious Larsen. It's downright disturbing to see him getting kicked in the head by his own teammates’ skates. Canucks goalie Jacob Markstrom tries to box out Larsen and keep him safe. Markus Granlund tries as well but has to step over and onto Larsen in the process. It’s a miracle Larsen wasn’t cut. None of that would've happened had Chaput thought of Larsen first.

The ugly scene is a reminder that, right after a teammate takes a massive hit, the first priority should be to protect him. The best way to do that isn't to attack his attacker. It's to attend to the teammate first. There's plenty of time to review what happened and take down the perpetrator's number for later in the game. That's what jumbo-tron replays are for. And, in cases like Hall's, the violence would be averted altogether if players watched the replay and realized it was an accident.

Sadly, the idea is a pipe dream, and I don’t expect players to learn from Larsen's fate anytime soon. But we can always hope.

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Power Rankings: Red-hot Blue Jackets still fighting for respect

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Power Rankings: Red-hot Blue Jackets still fighting for respect

The Blue Jackets have been the most pleasant surprise in the NHL this season, but it's still going to take convincing for the hockey world to believe they're for real.

We’ll totally understand if you’re having just a little trouble getting on board with the 2016-17 version of the Columbus Blue Jackets. After all, you’ve probably been burned before.

Their fan base certainly seems to be wary. Despite the fact the Blue Jackets are the surprise of the NHL and have emerged as one of the most dynamic and exciting teams in the league, they drawn fewer than 12,000 in three of their past four home games. Even their coach thinks the team has work to do to earn their fans’ trust. “I want our team to have a chip on their shoulder,” Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella told Michael Arace of the Columbus Dispatch recently. “I think they should. We’re trying to get respect in the league. Quite honestly, we should be disrespected because of where we’ve been.”

That won’t last long if the Blue Jackets keep this up. The league’s best power play continues to fuel one of the league’s hottest teams and has landed them at the top of thn.com’s weekly Power Rankings for the second time this season. Last week’s rankings in parentheses:

CREAM OF THE CROP

1. Columbus Blue Jackets (8)

2. Philadelphia Flyers (15)

3. Pittsburgh Penguins (6)

4. St. Louis Blues (2)

5. Chicago Blackhawks (5)

6. Montreal Canadiens (7)

7. New York Rangers (4)

8. San Jose Sharks (11)

9. Boston Bruins (20)

10. Calgary Flames (27)

Is there a bigger bargain or a shrewder off-season signing than Sam Gagner?...Steve Mason went from one of the worst goalies in the NHL early in the season to one of the best of late. His save percentage in his first 16 games was .892, but has improved to .947 in his past five… If Marc-Andre Fleury wants to get traded, he’s not doing himself any favor with his play lately…The Blues completed a 4-0-1 home stand with the game going into overtime…With Jonathan Toews and Corey Crawford already out, the Blackhawks lost defenseman Brent Seabrook in their 4-0 win over Arizona Tuesday night…How will the Canadiens and the surprising Alexander Radulov respond to the injury to Alex Galchenyuk?...The injury-ravaged Rangers saw Rick Nash go down with a groin injury and Matt Puempel to a concussion in their 4-2 loss to the Islanders Tuesday night…Joe Thornton passed Brendan Shanahan for 25th all-time on the NHL’s scoring list with an assist in a 2-1 win over Montreal last week…Anyone who predicted David Pastrnak would be in Rocket Richard Trophy contention a third of the way into the season is looking very bright at the moment…The Flames were already one of the hottest teams in the NHL without Johnny Gaudreau, then won their first two with him back in the lineup.

THE MUSHY MIDDLE

11. Washington Capitals (11)

12. Edmonton Oilers (14)

13. Ottawa Senators (12)

14. Los Angeles Kings (1)

15. New Jersey Devils (23)

16. Detroit Red Wings (16)

17. Nashville Predators (3)

18. Minnesota Wild (19)

19. Anaheim Ducks (10)

20. Winnipeg Jets (17)

Capitals coach Barry Trotz had some pointed words to Alex Ovechkin about his penchant for taking minor penalties of late. No cracks in the foundation, though. Just a frank discussion…The Oilers game Tuesday night against Buffalo was touted as Connor McDavid vs. Jack Eichel, the kind of narrative the Oilers have learned to accept. “Every night it’s Connor vs. Somebody,” said Oilers coach Todd McLellan…Goalie Craig Anderson started in the Senators’ 8-5 loss to Pittsburgh Monday night, but did not travel with the team for a three-game California trip to be with his wife as she undergoes treatment for throat cancer…The usually stingy Kings have given up 11 goals in their past three games. “That’s too many goals,” said Kings coach Darryl Sutter…Devils winger Taylor Hall on the aftermath of his clean, but devastating, hit on Philip Larsen Tuesday night: “I feel terrible.” Not to be trite, but Hall should not be feeling terrible about the way he has played since returning from a knee injury. He has five points in his past two games…Goalie Jimmy Howard will be back in uniform for the Red Wings when they host Columbus Friday night, but will have a difficult time pushing Petr Mrazek out of the crease…After missing four games with an upper-body injury, James Neal scored a goal in a 4-3 Predators’ win over Colorado Tuesday night…Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk, whose career was revived when he came to Minnesota, will make his 300th career start tonight in Toronto…Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle could not pull Jonathan Bernier during his team’s 8-3 loss to Calgary because backup John Gibson was battling a stomach virus…Over the past 30 years, only Teemu Selanne and Alex Ovechkin have scored goals at a better pace than Patrik Laine of the Jets is scoring them now.

VYING FOR THE PARTICIPATION BADGE

21. New York Islanders (26)

22. Tampa Bay Lightning (22)

23. Carolina Hurricanes (25)

24. Buffalo Sabres (29)

25. Florida Panthers (24)

26. Vancouver Canucks (18)

27. Toronto Maple Leafs (13)

28. Dallas Stars (28)

29. Arizona Coyotes (21)

30. Colorado Avalanche (30)

With points in each of their past five games, four of them wins, the Islanders are easily on their most successful string of the season…The Lightning could get Ryan Callahan, Jason Garrison and Jonathan Drouin back for their home game against Vancouver Thursday night…Jordan Staal, sidelined for the past four games with a concussion, likely won’t be available to the Hurricanes for a three-game road trip through California that begins tonight…After playing almost 500 games in the minors, defenseman Erik Burgdoerfer made his NHL debut in the Sabres’ 3-2 overtime win over Washington Tuesday night… Panthers have gone to overtime in four of their five games GM Tom Rowe has been behind the bench. They’ve won one in overtime, lost two in OT and one in a shootout…Philip Larsen, who was taken off the ice on a stretcher after a hit from Taylor Hall Tuesday night, was released from hospital in New Jersey Wednesday morning and was cleared to return to Vancouver while the Canucks continue on a five-game road trip…After waiving Jhonas Enroth, the Maple Leafs search for a backup goalie continues. They signed Karri Ramo to a professional tryout contract and assigned him to their farm team. That should cure everything…The Coyotes have been outscored 14-6 and have averaged 41 shots against per game in an 0-3-1 month of December…All nine of Matt Duchene’s goals this season have come on the road. The Avs could use that kind of production at the Pepsi Center, where they’re 4-8-1 this season and recently went 0-4-1 on a five-game homestand.

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Fans want to see NHL players play at the Olympics, the players want to play in the tournament, but the NHL’s Board of Governors still needs some convincing.

If the NHL is going to send players to the Olympics, the NHL’s Board of Governors are going to need some convincing and they’re going to need it in rather short order.

It was reported around the World Cup of Hockey that the NHL had a mid-January deadline to decide on Olympic participation for the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics. And at the first day of Board of Governors meetings in Palm Beach, Fla., little more than a month from that deadline, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman didn’t make it sound as though the situation is all that positive in terms of the world’s best players heading to the tournament.

One of the sticking points for the Board of Governors, according to Bettman, was the impact the Olympics have on the NHL product.

"There are a lot of owners, clubs, over the years that have been very concerned about what Olympic participation does to the season, what it does to the players in terms of injuries, not just to those that go but having a compressed schedule can make the players more tired, more wear and tear, and the potential for injury is greater,” Bettman said, according to NHL.com’s Dan Rosen.

Even still, Bettman approached the IIHF’s assurance of covering the costs with skepticism and a warning that it doesn’t mean Olympic participation is green lit.

"We have been very clear to Rene Fasel at the IIHF and to Don Fehr at the [NHL] Players' Association that if the expenses aren't being covered, the League isn't paying for them and there really is nothing to talk about," Bettman said, according to Rosen. "Just because somebody may decide to pay for them, and to this point we don't actually know where that stands, that doesn't mean that it's a go.”

Bettman added that he wasn’t sure there was “even the money to cover what's been covered in the last Olympics,” regardless of what the IIHF would say. And even if everything fell in line for an Olympic participation proposal in the coming days, weeks or month, Bettman said it will still need the approval of the Board of Governors in order for the players to be sent to South Korea for the tournament.

"If there is something at some point to take to the Board, it will need an affirmative vote of the Board of Governors," Bettman said, according to Rosen. "I think it's fair to say that there is some strong negative sentiment in the room, but nothing was decided today.”

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ECHL defenseman Anthony Calabrese is “lucky to be alive” after a “careless, reckless” hit, and Tyler Murovich, who delivered the blow, has been given a 12-game suspension as a first-time offender.

There are few plays scarier than seeing a player hit from behind and sent headfirst into the boards. That kind of play is made that much harder to watch when knowing the severity of the injury suffered.

During an ECHL contest on Nov. 24 between the Norfolk Admirals and Atlanta Gladiators, ECHL veteran Tyler Murovich delivered an incredibly dangerous shove to the back of Anthony Calabrese, a 24-year-old defenseman who’s only 12 games into his ECHL career.

The result of the hit was frightening. Calabrese was left laying face down on the ice, near motionless. The Admirals rearguard would eventually be placed on a stretcher, taken from the ice and transported to hospital.

That may seem harsh to some given that Murovich is a first-time offender, but given the severity of Calabrese’s injury, it actually seems like a somewhat light punishment.

As a result of the hit, Calabrese suffered broken C7 and T1 vertebrae. In simpler terms, he broke both his neck and his back. Oh, and he also punctured his lung. In fact, Calabrese told The Virginian-Pilot’s Jim Hodges that doctors told the young center that he’s “lucky to be alive.”

“It was a miracle, and they say I’m going to make a full recovery,” Calabrese told Hodges. “It’s going to be a long road, but I’d rather be alive than be in a wheelchair the rest of my life.”

What helped Calabrese escape with his life, he told Hodges, was advice he had gotten early in his career from a high school coach. Calabrese was taught that if he was ever going into the boards head first to lift his chin and turn to the side in an attempt to avoid taking the brunt of the impact with the top of his head.

“That’s honestly the only thing that registered in my mind when I was going in: at the last minute, pick my head up,” Calabrese told Hodges. “I remember picking my head up and turning it to the right.”

Thankfully, doctors told Calabrese that he can eventually return to the ice and that the injuries suffered from the hit won’t cost him his career. His spinal cord, he told Hodges, wasn’t damaged due to the hit. And, as hard as it may be to believe, doctors said it was the “best possible break” in a situation such as Calabrese’s.